Mangalore: The Mathias Family Poetry Award - 2025, presented by the Kavita Trust, has been awarded to Valerian D’Souza, who writes under the pen name of Vally Vagga. The award is worth Rs. 25,000, includes a souvenir and certificate. The award will be presented to him by renowned Konkani writer and Jnanpith Award winning short story writer Damodar Mauzo on the occasion of the 20th Poetry Festival at Mother Teresa Peace Park, St. Aloysius (Deemed to be University) on January 11, 2026.
Valerian D'Souza, a Konkani-Kannada poet and short story writer, writes under the pen name Valli Vagga. He was born on July 27, 1947 to Peter and Mary D'Souza, as the fourth child, in a small town called Vagga, near Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district. At the age of seventeen, his first story, 'Soryavarvim Churchure', was published in Raknno weekly. Since then, over the past six decades, he has published hundreds of poems and as many stories, writings in anthologies, various magazines and websites.
His collections of poems are 'Dongra voili vatt' (2007) and 'Neketram' (2013). ’Jinni Konnachem?' (1966), 'Sot ani jivit' (1967), 'Dhull' (1990) and 'Khandi Khuris' (2015) are his collections of stories. Abhiruchi Prakashan, Mysore has published his collection of seventeen stories titled 'Hegala Shilube' in 2013 in Kannada.
In 2001, his story 'Kadadi' won first prize in the Karnataka State Level Kannada Story Competition.
Valli Vagga is not only a writer but also an avid activist of the Konkani language. He was the first joint secretary of the Konkani Christian Association established in Mysore and the president of the association for six years. He was a member of the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy.
He has received, the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy honorary award (2010), Konkani Kuttam Bahrain Award (2012), Daiji Dubai Award (2019), Sandesha Sahitya Award (2020) - among others. In 2020, the Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of Karnataka produced a 7-minute documentary on the Konkani-Kannada literary work of Valli Vagga under the direction of Smt. Naginibharana. In November 2020, he was honored with the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award by the Chief Minister of Karnataka, with Rs.1 lakh and a gold medal of twenty grams.
Kavita Trust's Mathias Family Poetry Award was instituted by Joseph Mathias of Kuppepadavu, near Mangalore, who is the Managing Director of Merit Freight Systems LLC, Dubai, in his family name. The award has been given to seventeen poets from Goa, Kerala, Maharastra and Karnataka so far. Vally Vagga is the 18th recipient.
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